


Avalon

by Sheeana



Category: Fate/stay night - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Multi, Post-Canon, Threesome - F/F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27959900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheeana/pseuds/Sheeana
Summary: And after, there is peace.
Relationships: Emiya Shirou/Arturia Pendragon | Saber/Tohsaka Rin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30
Collections: Mistletoe Exchange 2020





	Avalon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Prix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prix/gifts).



Artoria stared down into the paper cup she was cradling between her fingers. The heat emanating from the liquid within kept them warm even in the chilly autumn air. She wrapped them closer around it, holding it against her knees.

Rin had wanted to take them to the park that morning, so Artoria and Shirou had dutifully come along with her, all of them bundling into sweaters and scarves to ward off the cold. Upon their arrival, they had left Artoria with her coffee to enjoy herself on her own terms. Rin had taken Shirou by the hand and led him off to show him something about a ley line in a stand of ancient trees. 

She didn't mind. She was never truly far from Rin; the tether between them was invisible but stronger than steel, wrapped around both of their hearts and binding their souls – and Shirou's, for it was his mana that coursed through them both and continued to give Artoria form and consciousness. They were all of them connected. Or so she liked to think, whatever the truth of it. It brought her some comfort to know that she belonged to something greater than herself.

She surveyed her surroundings: busy paths through the park, a pond teeming with birds, wind rustling through tree branches. It was a rare sunny day in late fall, though dark clouds in the distance threatened to bring rain to the city. 

This was a peaceful place. As if war had never touched this country at all, though she knew better. Not only from her own history; she had read about what had come after. The long, bloody years this land had endured between then and now. No traces of that history seemed to linger here now. It was her wish come true at last, though she had had no hand in granting it. She still did not know whether to view it as a kindness or a cruelty that the world had inflicted on her.

Setting that thought aside for the time being, she considered the whipped cream and dark chocolate flakes on her drink for a moment before she brought it to her lips and took a sip. It was sweet on her tongue, with a strong peppermint flavour. She smiled as the heat seemed to go all the way down to her toes. They curled in pleasure inside her boots.

Absently, she ran her fingers over the embossed cover of the book that was resting over her lap. Her attention was drawn to it as her fingertips traced over the letters that formed the title. _The Once and Future King_.

There were so many tales about her now. So few of them held anything more than a grain of truth. She often found herself wondering what the others would have thought of all this, of where and who and what she was now. Of what advice Merlin might have given her, though she wondered, too, if it might only have led her further astray. This world was nothing like the one she remembered.

She had been uncertain when she arrived here, her feet unsure as they touched the ground of her homeland. Shirou had had to guide her through the airport and the city as she gawked at all the new sights and sounds, everything so unfamiliar despite the knowledge she had been granted of this era. It was different, seeing it with her own eyes. What had become of her Britain.

In the months that followed, Rin and Shirou had taken her to Glastonbury, where she had walked among the ruins and knelt in the grass in the place where her bones were supposedly buried. 

She knew better. She had left none behind.

Exhaling into the chilly air, she looked up from her book to the park again. At the children playing with their parents, the couples walking down the paths, sitting together, feeding the birds. The people laughing with their friends as though they had not a single care in the world.

This was the land she had wanted to save. This was the soil on which she had spilled so much blood, on which her own blood had been spilled. These were the people for whom she had been ready to die to bring peace.

She glanced up suddenly as she saw movement in the corner of her eye, but it was only Shirou joining her on the bench. He sat wordlessly, evidently trying not to disturb her. For a moment, she just studied him. His face, his eyes, his hands. When she looked at him, sometimes she thought she saw a flash of someone else. White hair, troubled eyes. Lonely, distant eyes. It frightened her, to have seen a glimpse of what he might have become.

Of what she might have become.

She set her coffee aside on the bench and reached out to take his hand between both of hers. He gave her a quizzical look, but she only smiled and brought his hand to her lips. Rather than kissing it, at first she just cradled it there, breathing near his skin as if to warm it. She flattened it out against her jaw as she looked up into his eyes.

"Saber," he said, protesting mildly, though he allowed her to hold his hand. He always did. Artoria, and Rin. Even if he complained, he never wanted to let either of them go. 

Sometimes his hands shook. She hadn't noticed well enough, during the war. She had been too focused on her own goal to see her Master's struggles for what they were.

His hands were steady today. Still, she held onto him, reluctant to let go.

"Saber," he repeated, shaking his head. His cheeks were faintly flushed. She doubted it was from the cold breeze alone.

"You can use my name, Shirou," she replied.

"... Artoria."

She smiled again, pleased. After hesitating for a moment, she leaned over impulsively to kiss his cheek. She remained _pleased_ with herself when she pulled back and saw how he had reddened further, how his fingers had come up to brush over the place where her lips had brushed over his skin.

"Where is Rin?" she asked, when Shirou did nothing but continue to blush.

"Oh. Uh, she said she wanted to use the ley line for something and I should go back and find you."

"You have found me. Do you think she will be returning soon?"

"I don't know, she doesn't usually tell m-"

"There you are," said Rin as she came to a stop in front of their bench, complaining loudly. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Come on, I want to go somewhere nice for lunch."

Artoria perked up at the thought, raising her eyebrows. She released her grip on Shirou's hand as Rin tugged him to his feet against his spluttering protest, causing him to stumble forward before he caught himself, grumbling under his breath. She didn't question why Rin might have had any trouble locating them, when Artoria hadn't moved from the spot where they had left her. When Rin could have called her to her side in an instant from anywhere.

Rin turned back to Artoria and offered her hand. Artoria took it, allowing herself to be pulled up far more smoothly than Shirou had. When she was standing, she tucked her book into the bag hanging from her shoulder and retrieved her coffee, unwilling to let any of it go to waste.

Rin stepped in front of them and took Shirou by the hand as Artoria watched. Abruptly, Artoria reached out with her free hand and caught a thick strand of Rin's hair, admiring the way the long curl fell over her fingers. There was a questioning look on Rin's face when she turned around. Her eyes softened when she saw what Artoria was doing, and her lips quirked upward fondly. Such smiles from Rin were rare and beautiful, Artoria had come to know. She treasured each one that she earned.

Shirou had a similar look on his face when Artoria glanced at him. A helpless sort of affection, open for all the world to see. He had never learned to shake it, even when coldness or practicality might have served him better. Perhaps others would have faulted him for it, but Artoria never could.

Rin reached back for Artoria, gesturing impatiently. Artoria relinquished her hand to Rin gladly. She required neither contract nor order to follow them anywhere they would lead her – whether it was to lunch, or to battle, or even to the darkest depths that existed in this world or any other. It was not her oath that guided her now, but her heart. 

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Rin said, complaining once again. "We still have things left to do this afternoon."

"Very well, Rin," she replied, a faint smile still tugging at her lips as Rin secured her grip on their hands and pulled them both onward, toward whatever their future might hold.


End file.
